These Things Teach!

“These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, THEY ARE CONCEITED AND UNDERSTAND NOTHING. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1 Timothy 6:2c-5 NIV)

One of the reasons we have so many denominations and varying doctrines that “supposedly” govern the various churches, is because somewhere along the way, people chose to develop their own interpretation of God’s Word–usually taking a passage of Scripture out of context. When followers don’t have any understanding of The Word and are gullible in their trust of those who are leading them, they perpetuate a continuation of their truths and not God’s.

For instance, one denomination teaches a “Jesus Only” doctrine which we who know The Word, know that this is impossible. There is no Jesus without God and Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the resurrected Jesus Christ–They are (the three) the divinity that should govern our hearts because THEY WILL ALWAYS AGREE. Then another denomination teaches sprinkling water as a method of baptism rather than submersion “under the water” as a symbolic act of being buried with Christ. I’ve never heard of anyone being “buried” on the surface. And then there are those who would dispute the actual words of a baptism, ignoring what Jesus said. Another denomination doesn’t allow music to be played in the sanctuary because they didn’t understand Psalm 150 or ignored it.

If we teach anything other than what is said or implied (and substantiated) by other passages of Scripture aligning with historical events, we lie and the truth is not in us. If we lie, then we are children of Satan because he is the father of liars.

To avoid misrepresenting anything God said, we must know what He said and why–understanding the events that occurred at the time something was said. We must know that historical events directed the writing of the Old Testament by those who were inclined to hear God speak. With any good history books, we can align the events to the biblical record and how God responded to people during those times.

We know that for a span of time–most believe it was four hundred years–that no one spoke for God to the people and that’s because they were too busy doing their own thing to hear Him. We are headed in the same direction where people will think that God is not speaking to anyone because so many are listening to the the enemy’s lies they cannot see or hear Truth. If we’re not willing to hear truth, we set ourselves up to be lead down a merry path of destruction and oppression. When people misuse The Word of God to control others, they are dictators and manipulators and have no place in the kingdom of God.

We are no longer under The Law, but under grace–God’s unmerited, undeserved favor–and we only need to open our hearts to hear Him, not men, who are constantly changing their minds about everything. If our bodies are the temple where the Holy Spirit lives–He will speak to us, lead us, counsel us and guide us in all truths and we have no need to be under the bondage of man’s fickleness.

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We Can Ask Anything?

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (I John 5:14 NIV).

I just came to a conclusion about expounding upon scriptures, verse by verse. If I wrote about any “one” scripture a day, I would probably not live long enough to address all of them. Therefore, I try to explicate those that encourage confidence in our belief and promotion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, remind of instructions given and rewards for obedience, and warn of the consequences of disobedience.

Verse twelve and thirteen of this same passage provide us with a foundation for our beliefs. John says that “whoever has the Son of God has life (hope for eternal life) and whoever does not have Him, does not” and then he explains why he’s writing to the churches.

If we believe that we have Jesus in our lives, and we have given Him authority over our lives, we have access to heaven and our mansions. If we don’t believe, we won’t have. But with the belief comes the confidence that we can go to God, on our own, and ask Him anything, and we know He hears us. If He hears us, will He not respond to us?

There are many who do not believe in God, and certainly don’t have conversations with Him, but for those of us, who do–we know-we can talk to Him any time, expect Him to hear us and respond to our requests. When we ask of Him anything that aligns with His Word (His Word is His will), we can expect to receive it. John knew there were those who scorned believers and tried to make them feel foolish because of their beliefs and he wrote to them to remind them--they knew Truth and they could count on Truth to do all He said He would do.

So, go ahead, ask God–anything–in Jesus’ name–and see for yourself that He will respond. For believers, you know what I mean.
For scorners who don’t believe–don’t believe! Asking God for anything foolish or evil will not happen, but then if you don’t believe, why ask Him anything?

Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask You to strengthen the faith of believers everywhere so they will develop confidence in You and know that whatever we ask of You in Your Son’s name, will be given. Amen!